Battle of Poltava, 1709 – The Art of Battle Animation not displaying properly? Peter the Great versus Karl Rehnskjold and Charles XII: A Swedish army under Rehnskjold and Charles loses the element of surprise before it attacks a Russian army under Peter. Can Rehnskjold and Charles rely on the Swedish soldier’s reputation of past victories or has Peter successfully built a Russian soldier which can hold its own? Significance Poltava holds a place on every list of decisive battles because it marks the irreversible rise of one state’s power and influence at the expense of another’s. Peter’s victory in the Great Northern War would bring Russia closer to Europe not just geographically but culturally. In purely empirical, military terms however, Poltava is less significant. The battle was fought deep within Russia as Peter tapped the traditional Russian strategy of eluding battle and weakening the enemy with the harsh climate. Anything short of a crushing victory for the Swedes only led them deeper into Russia. Peter’s victory at Poltava did not immediately bear fruits as he was lucky to escape from the Turks at all in his disastrous Pruth campaign of 1711.

But Peter’s victory at Poltava is consistent with trends of the subsequent history and thus serves as a sort of placeholder in history. Analysis Tactically, this battle is fairly easy to analyze given the challenges in communication, command and control (C3) Charles and Rehnskjold created for themselves. The Swedish army was unified in purpose from the highest officer to the lowest soldier – Lewenhaupt’s strict compliance with detested orders to rejoin the army rather than storm the Russian camp prove this – but it was not clear how the battle was to go. Bengstton claims only two Swedish generals other than Rehnskjold and Charles were explicitly familiar with the plan of attack (1960: 348). Fuller argues the “Swedish unity of command was non-existent” and that “it is important to bear this in mind, for otherwise the battle of Poltava becomes unintelligible” (1956: 176). Peter, for his part, incidentally magnified Swedish command issues with the sudden construction of the line of redoubts perpendicular to the original line which instantly divided the Swedish army.

The real talent of Peter however was not as a field commander – although he performed well at Poltava – but as an administrator. The army he gained victory with at Poltava was completely his own, built from the defeated ruins of the Battle of Narva in 1700. Charles’ plan did not recognize that the Russian army had improved greatly since Narva and was likely going to fail even if all went well. Charles’ plan was to rush past the redoubts, march across the edge of the plain and then position themselves between the Russians and their ford at Petrovka; Peter would then be forced to accept Charles’ challenge to fight a reversed front battle or starve. The plan is impressive in its audacity and consideration of the indirect approach but many of the same factors in the actual Swedish defeat remain. The Russians would still hold an overwhelming superiority in infantry and artillery whose performance would completely shock Charles. Peter would have likely calmly lead his army out of camp and defeated the Swedes, a disastrous result for any army fighting a reversed front battle. Notes I resisted animating this battle because I felt it would be confusing or less informative due to the Swedish command issues.

However, I feel such issues should not be excluded from a visual representation of war and strategy, being just as important as which weapons were used or where units were deployed. Note on commander labels: they are a disaster. Sources’ maps simply did not agree with each other in the least and so I added commander labels based on who actually influenced the sector or who was “really” in charge. I did this by being consistent with the narrative of the battle as a whole. For example, technically or at least according to one confident source, the four Swedish columns from left to right were commanded by Charles, Roos, Stackelberg and Sparre, and were under the overall command of Lewenhaupt (Massie, 1981: 492). However, my labels make it clearer which commanders were on the ground with which formations and who actually exerted influence and command over them. This animation took much longer than expected but turned out much better as well. When I initially scout battles, I typically use fairly general sources (books like Davis’ 100 Decisive Battles for example) to get an idea of what the essence of the battle was, what made it special.

When I am actually taking notes on battles, I begin with these broader sources and move on to more specific sources which go in to more depth. This way, I slowly get a sense of the important details first but don’t have to write down the same things over and over. However, this battle changed drastically the more detailed it became and I was constantly shaking my head. By putting more time into this animation, I overcame the issues with sources and was able to include the genuine friction that took place between commanders and their subordinates, and of course, the two armies. – Jonathan Webb Works Consulted Bengtsson, Frans Gunnar. The Life of Charles XII, King of Sweden 1697-1718. London: Macmillan, 1960. Davis, Paul K. 100 Decisive Battles from Ancient Times to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Frost, Robert I. The Northern Wars: War, State and Society in Northeastern Europe, 1558-1721. New York: Longman, 2000. Fuller, J.F.C. The Decisive Battles of the Western World Vol.

2. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1956. Jackson, W.G.F. Seven Roads to Moscow. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1957. Massie, Robert K. Peter the Great, his Life and World. London: V. Gollancz, 1981. Stone, David R. A Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya. Westport: Praeger Security International, 2006. Images Carl Rehnskiöld: Charles XII: Map of the world: Peter the Great: Battle of Poltava | Europe [1709] | Britannica.com Battle of Poltava Sweden Battle of Poltava, (June 27 [July 8, New Style], 1709), the decisive victory of Peter I the Great of Russia over Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War . The battle ended Sweden’s status as a major power and marked the beginning of Russian supremacy in eastern Europe.

It was fought north and west of Poltava , west of the Vorskla River, in the Ukraine , between 80,000 Russian troops under Peter the Great and the general Prince Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov and 17,000 Swedes under Charles XII. The Swedish invasion of Russia had already failed the previous winter, with the loss of their major supply column to the Russians and their failure to receive expected reinforcements. Despite the severe shortages of men, artillery, and powder, Charles continued the war and besieged Poltava in May 1709. The Russians assembled their forces to raise the siege. They set up entrenchments (a countersiege) within a few hundred yards of the Swedish siege lines, thus forcing the Swedes to attack. Charles planned to charge past the Russian line of redoubts, without stopping to subdue them, and directly assault the main Russian defensive position. This called for extreme mobility and daring. But Charles himself lacked mobility because he had been injured a few days before, and his secondary commanders either lacked daring or failed to understand his plan.

The Swedish attack faltered; the Russian counterattack, with 40,000 troops, killed or captured the entire Swedish army, except for Charles and 1,500 followers, who escaped south into Turkish territory. St. Sampsoniy Church, built to commemorate the Battle of Poltava, on the battlefield at Poltava, … © FotoYakov/Shutterstock.com Most Important Victory Peter the Great Won - The Battle of Poltava - Liden & Denz 01 December, 2014 Most Important Victory Peter the Great Won – The Battle of Poltava The most important victory Peter the Great won is a rather unknown battle called The Battle of Poltava. In took place in 1709 is in terms of international history, but the historical consequences of the battle are so immense that we are still living with the repercussions today! Who fought the Battle of Poltava? The battle was fought between Tsar Peter the Great’s under-developed and ill-prepared Russia and the dominating power of Northern Europe at the time, Sweden, which was led by King Charles VII.

At the time of the battle, Sweden was the great superpower and in control of the Baltic States, threatening Russia’s very existence with its immense firepower and extremely well-trained army. The battles fought between Sweden and Russia have come to be known as the Great Northern War, with Russian victory at the Ukrainian town of Poltava seen as the turning point of the 20-year long conflict. Results of the Battle In 1700, Sweden started sweeping through Northern and Eastern Europe, culminating in the invasion of Poland in 1706. At this time, Peter’s new capital, St Petersburg, was in the very early stages of being built and was dangerously in reach of the Swedish army. In an attempt to make peace with Charles VII, Peter the Great offered the Swedes all of his Baltic possessions except for St Petersburg, an offer flatly refused by Charles, who wanted to invade Moscow and St Petersburg. As a result, the Russian army, stationed on Russia’s borders, started to retreat into the heart of their country, burning all crops and destroying any possibility for the Swedish army to eat, drink or use any form of transport along the way, a tactic called ‘scorched earth policy’.

Peter’s modernisation of Russia was not completed, and his rebuilt army were not in a state to fight the experienced Swedish troops, so continued to retreat through the winter. An army of 40,000 Swedes was reduced to 20,000 after a successful attack by a section of Peter’s forces, and the Swedish forces were met by an 80,000-strong Russian army at the small Ukrainian town of Poltava, used by Peter as the Swedish army would have to attack through a small opening in between two thick woods, making it easier for the Russian soldiers to pick them off. Battlefield Surprise So, the battle itself has gone down in history as a rout. This was incredibly surprising for all contemporary historians as the Russian army was in fact vastly inferior to the Swedish army, but manpower and luck was on their side (one English scholar said that ‘an army of veterans had been beaten by a mob, a crowd; an army of the bravest fellows in the world, beaten by scoundrels’!).

The Swedish cavalry, who at an early stage of the battle could have broken through the Russian lines, were late to the scene and this meant that the Russian army could encircle the Swedish troops and fight the cavalry on its own, rendering Charles XII’s tactical battle plan useless. Charles fled the battle and escaped from Russia, with his reputation in tatters and only a few thousand soldiers left. Epilog The battle of Poltava is hugely important in the geographical history of Eastern Europe. If Peter the Great had failed to stop the Swedish juggernaut at Poltava, then St Petersburg would have fallen into the hands of the enemy and most likely have been destroyed (a horrible thought!), while Russia would have effectively ceased to exist. The other historical consequence of the battle is that Sweden, a country feared all over Europe due to her magnificent army, faded into obscurity, and was replaced by a new superpower, which survives until this very day – Russia.

This blog was brought to you by Alexander, currently studying Russian at Liden and Denz Peter The Great: The Battle of Poltava Peter The Great: The Battle of Poltava Peter the Great Peter The Great: Russian Battles from Narva to Poltava The enmity that had existed between Russia and Sweden since the Viking’s time was intensified during the reign of Peter The Great and, finally, culminated with the twenty-year long Great Northern War. Russia had no ships on the Baltic and was struggling to gain entrance into the sea from Europe. With a fleet of 39 ships, Sweden dominated the Baltic. Under the power of the King Charles XII, Sweden fought to maintain its supremacy against Tsar Peter The Great’s forces. In 1700 the exhausted army of Peter The Great was routed at Narva. Driven back from Swedish-held territory, Peter The Great was only briefly disappointed and quickly resumed the planning of fresh military campaigns. When Charles XII, meanwhile encouraged by his successes, sent an invading army into Poland. Peter I and his advisors were convinced that a Swedish naval attack was imminent.

In May 1701 a Swedish force of seven ships, armed with a total of 127 cannon, left Sweden and proceeded toward the White Sea. Under the command of Commodore Karl Lewe, the flotilla had orders to occupy and destroy the port of Arkhangelsk, thus preventing Peter The Great from receiving shipments of supplies or armaments from Europe through Russia’s single seaport. The ships reached the estuary of the Severnaya Dvina by the end of June. Lewe dispatched three ships to make a reconnaissance of the area and to impress into service local helmsmen who were competent to guide the Swedish ships. Late one night two of the local pilots taken captive, Ivan Sedunov and Dmitry Popov, risked their lives and infuriated the Swedes by deliberately directing two of the Swedish vessels into shallow waters. The ships went aground in a shoal quite close to the Russian-held fortress of Novodvinsk. Since there is very little darkness in the far North during the month of June the enemy ships were at once sighted and fired upon by the garrison of Novodvinsk.

When the captain of one of the Swedish vessels was hit and mortally wounded during the consequent cannonade, seamen from the two grounded vessels scurried aboard the single still seaworthy Swedish vessel. The Mjohunden and the Falken, with thirteen guns between them, thus fell into Russian hands. Peter The Great The victory at the Dvina estuary saved Arkhangelsk; its port continued to be Russia’s sole link to northern Europe by sea. Lewe, despondent over his loss, returned to Sweden. In 1702 the Russian fleet celebrated yet another victory. Russian soldiers in lodjas attacked superior-armed Swedish squadrons on Lakes Chudskoye and Ladoga and took total possession of Lake Ladoga. Encouraged by his successes, Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev launched new offensives, taking the fortresses of Oreshek and Kanzi. On the night of May 7th, Captain Pyotr Mikhailov and Lieutenant Alexander Menshikov (in reality Tsar Peter The Great and his close friend and advisor Alexander Menshikov) successfully attacked and captured the Swedish snow Astrild and the galliot Gedan, which had entered the mouth of the Neva River.

Following the battle, all participating officers and soldiers were awarded medals bearing the inscription: “The unprecedented has happened”. The first Russian military order was thereupon created, the Order of St. Andrew the Summoned, and Peter The Great and Menshikov became its first recipients. An important date in Russian history is May 16th 1703, the day on which Peter The Great decreed the founding of the Saint Petersburg fortress on Zayachy (Hare) Island at the mouth of the Neva. Peter The Great – Building St. Petersburg In order further to protect the sea approaches to the new fortress, Fort Kronshlot was also erected off Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland. In the winter of the following year on the left bank of the Neva, almost opposite Zayachy Island, a new admiralty was founded, that is, a shipyard for constructing vessels destined to constitute the new Baltic fleet. The Russian Navy was largely successful throughout the Northern War. In 1704 Narva was retaken, and the batteries of Kronstadt repelled a Swedish attempt to approach Saint Petersburg from the sea.

In the summer of the following year the Russian fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral Kornely Kruys, became engaged in a battle off Kotlin Island against a Swedish squadron under Admiral Anckarstjerna. The battle lasted several days on the open sea, and, although the odds greatly favoured the Swedes, the Russian line was supported by the batteries at Kronstadt and Kotlin. The Swedes attempted to return the Russians fire and land troops, but both efforts ended in failure. Having suffered casualties of 114 wounded and 560 killed and captured, the remaining Swedish force retreated. In the frigid autumn of 1706 the Russian army marched on Vyborg. During the campaign Guards-Sergeant Mikhail Shchepotyev commanded a group of five boats which encountered the Swedish 4-gun ship Esper in the night fog. Under cover of darkness the Russians rushed aboard the enemy ship and, after brutal hand to hand combat, took control of the boat and fended off another Swedish ship which came to aid the Esper. In spite of the small victories of Russian soldiers and officers, Vyborg remained in Swedish hands. For the next two years the Swedes displayed no noticeable activity in the Baltic.

The war’s outcome was being decided far from sea in the struggle between the armies of Peter The Great and Charles XII, and in 1709 the first phase of the Northern War ended with Russia’s victory at Poltava. Russian Battle from Narva to Poltava The Battle of Poltava. The Famous victory of Peter The Great On June 27th, 1709 one of the famous events in the World History took place – The Battle of Poltava. Russian military headed by Peter The Great won a brilliant victory over the Swedish army headed by Karl the XII-th. The victory at The Battle of Poltava predetermined the outcome of the North war (1700-1721) waged by Russia against Sweden for the outlet into the Baltic sea and returning the Russian lands in Pre-Baltic region captured by Sweden. In the course of the North war the Swedish King Karl XII commenced the campaign against Moscow. Having met the stubborn resistance at Smolensk he turned his troops to the Ukraine. The Ukrainian people rose to fight against invaders.

When the enemy approached the population of towns and villages annihilated foodstuffs, burned the dwellings down and left for the forests under the protection of the Russian troops. Detachments of the regular army and partisans were the enemy forces down in skirmishes. Karl XII attempted to capture the fortress of Poltava trying to replenish here their exhausted food supplies and, mainly, to use convenient geographical position of the fortress for the communication with their allies – the Turkish sultan and the Crimean khan. The Battle of Poltava The Russian command, taking into account the important strategic position of Poltava, sent there in due time six infantry battalions commanded by colonel A.S. Kelin. The fortress was fortified with additional ramparts, wooden paling, bastions… Due to courage and staunchness of the Russian soldiers and inhabitants of the town this “wretched”, as Karl XII called it, fortress withstood almost three months long siege of the famous Swedish army. At Poltava`s walls the invaders lost nearly six thousand soldiers and officers and this considerably weakened their forces. During the siege of the Battle of Poltava, Russian troops were ready for the decisive battle.

Peter The Great`s I army crossed the Vorskla river to the right bank where the fortified camp had been built. The system of earthen fortifications was built at Poltava: redoubts which played an important role in repulsing enemy`s attacks during the first stage of the battle. For the first time in the history of Russian military separate closed earthen fortifications were used. Such fortifications appeared in armies of Western Europe only 80 years later. At dawn on June 27th Swedish infantry and cavalry began their offensive. The enemy was hit by aimed rifle and artillery fire. Chased by Russians the regiments of enemy`s cavalry were defeated utterly. The Battle of Poltava Peter The Great ordered to withdraw the cavalry from the redoubts to the fortified camp where the main part of the Russian army-infantry and artillery were concentrated. The Swedes mistook this withdrawal for the retreat and followed the Russian cavalry. But unexpectedly they found themselves under devastating fire of Russian artillery. Having suffered great losses the disorganized regiments retread. A three hours interval in the battle ensued at 6 o’clock in the morning on June 27th.

The second crucial stage of the decisive battle began, it lasted about two hours. Karl XII attempted to strike a decisive blow into the centre but he failed to do it. No later than in half an hour the Swedes wavered. Russian infantry and cavalry began to press the enemy`s regiments. Soon their retreat turned into a panic flight. At the Battle of Poltava the Swedes lost 9.234 soldiers and additional 2.874 soldiers and officers were taken prisoners. Russian losses were 1.345 killed, 3.290 wounded. The rest of the Swedish army 16.264 men were taken prisoners at Perevolochna. The Battle of Poltava is an unfading example of the feat of arms, courage and valour of the people for their independence. The victory at the Battle of Poltava saved the Ukrainian and Byelorussian peoples from enslavement, strengthened their friendship with the Russian people.

The Battle of Poltava Poltava battle Русский The Battle of Poltava (or Pultowa) on 28 June 1709 (8 July, N.S.)[3] was the decisive victory of Peter I of Russia over Charles XII of Sweden in the most famous of the battles of the Great Northern War. It is said to have started the end of Sweden's role as a Great Power and the Russians took their place as the leading nation of northern Europe. This also meant the rise of Imperial Russia. Prelude Early Swedish victories at Copenhagen and at the Battle of Narva in 1700 knocked both Denmark and Russia temporarily out of the war. However, Charles was unable to bring the war to a conclusion, and it would take six years before he had dealt with the remaining combatant Charles Augustus of Saxony-Poland. During this time Peter rebuilt his army into modern form, basing it primarily on infantry trained to properly use linear tactics and modern firearms. He then achieved a stunning propaganda victory when he established the city of Saint Petersburg on Swedish territory, not Livonia. To end the war, Charles ordered a final attack on the Russian heartland with an assault on Moscow from his campaign base in Poland.

Charles marched along the main route between Poland and Moscow and waited as long as he could for General Lewenhaupt to arrive. At one point they were only 130 kilometres apart, but Charles gave up because he needed supplies, and turned south into Ukraine in search of grain and better weather. The Ukrainian forces, under the command of the Cossack hetman Ivan Mazepa, had been in discussions with Charles for some time, and at this point officially allied himself to the Swedes in order to gain independence from Russia. Lewenhaupt followed south and was attacked while crossing a river near a small village that gave name to the Battle of Lesnaya. His forces met the Russian attack, but they were amazed to find that the new Russian army gave them a serious fight. Lewenhaupt, seeing that he was about to lose, decided to rejoin Charles with all speed, so he abandoned the cannon, the cattle and most of the food, driving the soldiers to mutiny. Stealing all of the alcohol, the soldiers became drunk, and Lewenhaupt was forced to leave about 1,000 men drunk in the woods.

By the time they finally reached Charles and the main force in the winter, no supplies and only 6,000 men remained. In the spring Charles resumed his advance, but his army had been reduced by about one-third due to starvation, frostbite and other effects of the weather. The wet weather had also seriously depleted the army's supplies of gunpowder; the cannon were also essentially out of action, due to a lack of usable ammunition. Charles's first action was to lay siege to the fort of Poltava on the Vorskla River in the Ukraine. Peter had already organized a huge force to protect it, and he quickly arrived. On 27 June, Charles received information that large Kalmyk forces were going to join Peter and to cut off all supplies of Swedish Army. Battle When the battle opened, Charles had about 14,000 men, while Peter commanded about 45,000. To make matters worse for the Swedes, Charles was wounded during the siege on June 17, when he was hit in the foot while taking part in a small engagement during an inspection of the Swedish outposts on the banks of the Vorskla.

He had to turn over command to Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld and General Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt. This was made all the more unfortunate by the divergent personalities of the two generals. The change in command was not communicated to the subordinate commanders when the battle was planned. Also the Russians managed to weaken the Cossacks who decided to join Swedes against them. The Russian army deceitfully occupied and destroyed the Zaporozhian Host with the help of Galagan, a former Cossack officer. The rest of the Cossacks moved their Host down the Dnipro river for the next 19 years. The battle began before dawn at 3:45 a.m. on June 28, with the Swedes advancing boldly against the Russian fortified lines. At first, the battle started off in a traditional fashion, with the better trained Swedes pressing in on the Russians' redoubts, overrunning a few Russian defensive redoubts. The Swedish seemed to possess an advantage, but this was quickly nullified. By dawn, the weather was already very hot and humid with the rising sun obscured by smoke from cannon and musket fire.

The Swedish infantry, commanded by General Lewenhaupt, attempted to attack the Russians. But the Swedish advance soon faltered, partly because the infantry had been ordered to withdraw and reorganise. To make matters worse, one Swedish detachment, commanded by General Roos, hadn't been told about the overall plan and became isolated in the Russian defensive redoubts when a column of about 4,000 Russian reinforcements reoccupied the fortified positions, trapping Roos and his 2,600-man force. With over 1,000 casualties and ammunition running low, Roos was forced to surrender his command. The Swedes waited for Roos to return. As time went by, the Russians infantry moved out of its fortified camp. Around 9:00 am, the Swedish line started to move forward; 4,000 Swedish infantry against 20,000 Russian infantry. They advanced and the Russians opened fire on them with their guns creating a firestorm of shells. When the Swedes were 100 meters from the Russian line, the Russians aimed and fired their muskets. When they were 30 meters from the Russian line, the Swedes fired one volley and charged.

They were on the verge of a breakthrough and needed the cavalry; unfortunately it was disorganised. The Russian line was longer than the Swedish line, and the Russian right soon flanked the Swedish infantry. Several regiments were surrounded in a classic Cannae-style battle. The cavalry tried to buy the infantry time to get away; several units attacked the Russians head on despite them forming into squares. Seeing the defeat of his army from a stretcher in the rear, Charles ordered the army to retreat at 11:00 a.m. By noon, the battle was over as Russian cavalry had mopped up the stragglers on the battlefield and returned to their own lines. Charles then gathered the remainder of his troops and baggage train, and retreated to the south later that same day, abandoning the siege of Poltava. Rehnskiöld was captured. Lewenhaupt led the surviving Swedish and some of the Cossacks forces to the Dnieper River, but was doggedly pursued by the Russian regular cavalry and 3,000 Kalmyks and forced to surrender three days later at Perevolochna, on July 1.

Many of Mazepa's Cossacks changed sides joining the Russian army right after the battle. Aftermath Several thousand prisoners were taken, many of whom were put to work building the new city of Saint Petersburg. Charles managed to escape with about 1,500 men to Bendery, Moldavia, then controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and spent five years in exile there before he was able to return to Sweden. Poltava can be considered as one of the most disastrous defeats ever, when looking at casualties in percentage of the armies size, and is seen as the most disastrous defeat in Swedish history. Poltava, Battle of Poltava, Battle of. (Map: Battle of Poltava .) The turning point in the Northern War (1700–21) between Sweden and Russia. When Hetman Ivan Mazepa learned that Tsar Peter I intended to abolish the autonomy of the Hetman state , he began secret negotiations with Charles XII of Sweden to ensure that Ukraine would not be annexed by Poland in the event of a Swedish victory. After the main Swedish army entered Ukraine, Mazepa openly sided with Charles against Peter.

The entire matter was complicated by the fact that the Swedish force that was to have marched directly on Moscow had unexpectedly turned south toward Ukraine before reaching Smolensk. Mazepa was left in an awkward position, but tried to accommodate the Swedes as well as he could. Because of the harsh winter of 1708–1709 and a series of military defeats the situation of the Swedish army in Ukraine became precarious. The assistance Charles XII expected from Turkey and the Crimean Khanate did not materialize, and the Polish army of King Stanislaus I Leszczyński and a Swedish corps were forced to remain in Poland to fight the supporters of Frederick Augustus II . Charles's only success at that time was enlisting the support of Otaman Kost Hordiienko and his army of 8,000 Zaporozhian Cossacks in April 1709. Semiencircled by the Russians , Charles chose not to retreat to Volhynia (as his generals counseled) but to advance to the Vorskla River and thence on to Moscow via Kharkiv and Kursk . Several fortified cities on the way encumbered Charles's advance.

One such city was Poltava , situated at the intersection of important routes to Southern Ukraine , Right-Bank Ukraine , and Slobidska Ukraine and the Don region. It was defended by a garrison of 4,300 Russian soldiers and 2,600 Ukrainian volunteers commanded by Gen Aleksei Kelin. In early May 1709, on Ivan Mazepa 's advice, Charles XII decided to capture Poltava. Having failed to take it by storm, he besieged and bombarded the hungry city. Peter I arrived to relieve Poltava and decided his army of 42,500 soldiers and 102 cannons would attack the Swedes on 10 July. Cossack forces loyal to Peter under the command of Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky cut off possible Swedish retreat to the Dnieper River between Pereiaslav and Kremenchuk . Charles had 31,000 men but only 4 cannons; 6,000 of his soldiers were engaged in maintaining the siege or guarding the Vorskla River rear.

Mazepa's small force was held in reserve to protect the Swedish western flank and ensure that Kelin would not attack from the fortress. When Charles XII learned, during the night of 7 July, that a Kalmyk army of 40,000 would arrive to reinforce the Russians in two days, he decided to act first and destroy the Russian encampment in a lightning blow. At 5 AM on 8 July the Swedish infantry advanced on Russian positions but was repelled by cavalry. The Swedish cavalry successfully engaged its counterpart but was forced to retreat under heavy fire. The Swedish infantry attacked once more and captured two Russian redoubts, but failed to hold them. As the Swedes attempted to bypass the redoubts, Prince Aleksandr Menshikov 's troops encircled them and inflicted heavy casualties. Fifty to seventy meters from Russian positions the Swedes met a hail of deadly artillery fire. Panic ensued in their ranks, but they managed to retreat into the nearby Budyshcha forest , where Charles was able, with considerable difficulty, to restore order. At around 9 AM, having regrouped their forces, both Peter I and Charles XII ordered their troops to advance.

Intense Russian artillery fire again created chaos in the Swedish ranks, their center buckled, and a disorderly retreat ensued to the Swedish encampment, which by then had been captured by Russian forces. By 11 AM the Swedes had been routed. Over 9,300 died, and nearly 2,900 were taken prisoner, including Field Marshal C.-G. Rehnskjold and the first minister, C. Piper. The Russian army suffered 1,345 dead and 3,290 wounded. Swedish units that were not captured were led by Gen A.L. Lewenhaupt along the Vorskla River to Perevolochna, whence Charles, Ivan Mazepa , and Kost Hordiienko and a contingent of 3,000 Swedes and Cossacks crossed the Dnieper River and fled into Turkish-occupied territory. A.L. Lewenhaupt's army of 16,000 was forced to capitulate and surrender to Menshikov. According to the fifth provision of the capitulation agreement Cossacks under Swedish command were handed over to the Russians .

Most of them were executed on the spot, and the rest were exiled to Siberia. The Battle of Poltava resulted in Russian military rule in the Hetman state and increasing curtailment of its autonomy . The Museum of the History of the Battle of Poltava, which very much lauded Peter’s triumph, was opened at the battle site in 1950. BIBLIOGRAPHY Adlerfelt, G. The Military History of Charles XII, King of Sweden, Written by the Express Order of His Majesty, 3 vols (London 1740) Iunakov, N. ‘Severnaia voina: Kampaniia 1708–1709 gg.,’ Trudy Imperatorskago Russkago voenno-istoricheskago obshchestva, vols 2 and 4 (Saint Petersburg 1909) Beskrovnyi, L.; et al (eds). Poltava: K 250-letiiu Poltavskogo srazheniia: Sbornik statei (Moscow 1959) Diadychenko, V. (ed).

250 rokiv Poltavs’koï bytvy (1709–1959): Zbirnyk statei (Kyiv 1959) Grekov, M.; Koroliuk, V. (eds). Poltavskaia pobeda: Iz istorii mezhdunarodnykh otnoshenii nakanune i posle Poltavy (Moscow 1959) Serczyk, W. Połtawa 1709 (Warsaw 1982) Englund, P. The Battle of Poltava: The Birth of the Russian Empire (London 1992) From, P.

Katastrofen vid Poltava : Karl XII:s ryska fälttåg 1707–1709 (Lund 2007) Theodore Mackiw Battle of Poltava Battle of Poltava 08 July 1709 On June 27 (July 8), 1709 in 6 verst of the town of Poltava in Little Russia (Left-bank Ukraine) took place the largest battle of the Northern War between Russia and Sweden which resulted in the defeat of the Swedish army of Karl XII. In April of 1709 Swedish troops besieged the town of Poltava defended by a small garrison under the commandment of Colonel A. S. Kelin. Swedes attacked the fortress daily. In case the town was occupied, it was a threat to Voronezh, the key base of supply and formation of the Russian army. In the end of May, 1709 the main forces of the Russian army led by Peter I approached the outskirts of Poltava. Russian army which numbered 42 000 men and 72 guns settled in a reinforced camp 5 km north of Poltava.

Taking into account the experience obtained after the Battle under Lesnaya village the Russian army chose a small area surrounded by forest in order to hamper the maneuvers of the enemy. Peter I charged himself with the commandment of the first division; the commandment of other ones he distributed between generals. A. D. Menshikov was in charge of cavalry, Bruce was at the head of artillery. From the Swedish side in the battle participated about 20 000 men and 4 guns (28 guns remained in the transport without ammunition). The rest of the troops (up to 10 000 men) including Zaporozhye and Ukrainian Cossacks led by hetman Mazepa stayed in reserved. Due to Karl’s XII wound the Swedish army was commanded by Field Marshal Rehnskiolt. Infantry and cavalry were led by Generals Lewenhaupt and Kreits respectively. At 2 a.m. June 27 (July 8) the Swedish infantry moved towards Russian redoubts in 4 columns. It was followed by 6 cavalry columns. After stubborn 6-hour fighting, Swedes managed to take over just two advanced redoubts.

Rehnskiolt, trying to turn Russian redoubts from the left side, made a regrouping of his troops, thus 6 battalions of the right flank and some squadrons of Generals Schlippenbakh and Ross were cut off from the main Swedish forces, withdrew to a forest to the north of Poltava where they were defeated by Menshikov’s cavalry. Having broken through redoubts, the majority of Swedes found themselves under a heavy artillery and gun fire coming from the Russian camp and withdrew in disorder to Budische forest. At night o’clock a hand-to-hand combat started. Being outnumbered, Swedes began to retreat and soon it was a flight. A detachment led by A. D. Menshikov was sent to pursuit the enemy. It cached up with Swedes near Dnieper’s die and forced the remaining of the Swedish army (16 000 men) led by A. D. Lewenhaupt to capitulate. Swedish king Karl XII and Ukrainian hetman Mazepa ran with a small detachment to the territory of Ottoman Empire.

During the battle of Poltava Swedes lost over 9 000 men killed and over 18 000 taken prisoners; as to the losses of Russians they were much lesser: 1 345 men killed and 3 290 wounded. Russians were the first to apply earth fortification in war science of the age as well as a fast-moving horse artillery. The decisive victory of the Russian army in Poltava battle was a turning point in the course of the Northern War and ended the Swedish domination as the main military power in Europe. Russian annexed its ancient lands and firmly settled on the coasts of the Baltic Sea. Lit.: Ассанович П. Л. Император Пётр Великий : Полтава. СПб., 1909; Богданович П. Н. Полтавская виктория. Буэнос Айрес, 1959; Борисов В. Е., Балтийский А. А., Носков А. А., Полтавская битва. 1709 — 27 июня 1909. Сб. ст.

СПб., 1909; Дядиченко В. А. Полтавська битва. Киïв, 1962; Злаин А. И. Полтавская битва. М., 1988; Полтава. К 250-летию Полтавского сражения. Сб. ст. М., 1959; Тельпуховский Б. С. Северная война 1700—1721 гг. М., 1946; Государственный историко-культурный заповедник «Поле Полтавской битвы»: сайт. Б. д. URL: . From the Presidential library materials: The battle of Poltava The Great Northern War The Great Northern War was one of the most important military and political events of the eighteenth century. It determined not only the future destiny of Ukraine but of Northern Europe as a whole.

The extremely aggressive foreign policy of Charles's XII predecessors, particularly that of his grandfather Charles X Gustav , contributed to the transition of Sweden into a mighty empire, which controlled the majority of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea. The main objectives of Charles XI , the father of Charles XII, were the strengthening of the absolute monarchy and the development of SwedenпїЅs economy. At the same time SwedenпїЅs unceasingly aggressive foreign policy caused resentment and discontent in many European countries. Russia also suffered from the aggressive policy of its northern neighbor, having been forced to sign a peace treaty in 1617 that deprived it of any outlet to the Baltic Sea, the main European trade route. After Peter I ascended to the throne, the return of RussiaпїЅs former possessions along the Baltic became one of the most important goals of his foreign policy. In 1699/1700 Russia entered into an anti-Swedish alliance with Poland-Saxony and Denmark. In August 1700, soon after signing a peace treaty with Turkey, Russia declared war on Sweden. At the same time, King Augustus II laid siege to the fortress of Riga.

The Great Northern war that was to last 21 years had started. King Charles XII proved to be a worthy successor to the Swedish warrior kings in spite of his youth (he was only eighteen when the war started in 1700). He was a gifted military strategist and an inspiring and gifted leader. His goal was to defeat his enemies - one by one. His first target was Denmark. After leading a surprise attack on the City of Copenhagen and other Danish strongholds, he forced king Frederik IV of Denmark to sign a peace treaty with Sweden, leave the Russian-Polish alliance, and pay substantial retribution. After the defeat of Denmark, Charles XII moved his army to Riga , overcame the enemy's siege of the city, and then defeated the Russian army in the first major battle of the Northern War, the Battle of Narva , on November 19, 1700 (map of the battle) . However, following these victories the Swedish King made a mistake when he refused to pursue the weakened Russian army, and instead, spent seven years fighting against the armies of Poland-Saxony under the command of Augustus II.

This allowed the Russian Tsar to reorganize and modernize his army and bring it up to European standards. When Charles XII succeeded at last in defeating Poland-Saxony, and forced Augustus II, the Polish king, to abdicate in favor of Stanislaw Leszczinsky, leave the alliance and sign the treaty of Altranstadt, the army of Peter I had been turned into a powerful fighting force. The Russian victories in 1704 in the battles of Narva and Dorpat made it clear that Russia would be a formidable adversary. However, Charles XII continued to push into the Russian territories. In the summer of 1708 the Swedish army was in desperate need of supplies and ammunition. A detachment under the command of General Lewenhaupt had been ordered to deliver the much needed supplies from Riga. Expecting the supplies to arrive, Charles crossed the Berezina River with his army and started to move toward Moscow. However, LewenhauptпїЅs detachment was defeated by the Russians in the Battle of Lesnaya, and the entire pack train was lost. Instead of delivering supplies to the hungry army, Lewenhaupt ended up delivering 6,000 equally hungry survivors of the attack.

CharlesпїЅ only option was to turn south toward Ukraine and try to secure provisions from that area. When the war between Russia and Sweden became more intense, the Kozak Hetman Ivan Mazepa had sought to secure UkraineпїЅs safety. He had hoped that Russia and Sweden would fight their final battle somewhere outside Ukraine, but when the Swedish ally Stanislaw Leszczinsky began to threaten Ukraine, Mazepa asked Peter I for military protection. Preparing for his own inevitable battle with Sweden, the Russian tsar refused to become involved in UkraineпїЅs fight and, therefore, rejected MazepaпїЅs request. This was the last straw for Mazepa. The hetman regarded PeterпїЅs refusal to assist as a breach of the Russian-Ukrainian Treaty of 1654 and, as a result, considered Ukraine to be free to act in its own best interest. In October 1708 Mazepa allied himself with the Swedish king, Charles XII, and entered into a military and political treaty with Sweden. About 3000 Kozaks followed him.

In accordance with the treaty, Sweden pledged military support and agreed not to sign any treaty with Russia until Ukraine had been fully liberated and its rights restored. Tsar PeterпїЅs reaction to MazepaпїЅs decision to join the Swedes was quick and cruel. Prince Menshikov , one of PeterпїЅs commanders, destroyed Baturin, the HetmanпїЅs capital, and massacred all inhabitants. This event forced many of MazepaпїЅs potential supporters to reconsider and once again change their allegiance. After an extremely severe and exhausting winter the Swedish army reached Poltava in the beginning of April 1709. Here the decisive battle of the Great Northern War took place on June 27, 1709. The Swedish army suffered a crushing defeat and lost about 6900 dead and wounded. The rest of the Swedish army, under the command of General Lewenhaupt, capitulated on June 30, 1709 near Perevolochna, and about 16000 Swedes were taken prisoner.

The King and Hetman Mazepa managed to escape with a small detachment and took refuge in Moldavia, a country ruled at that time by Turkish sultan Ahmed III. However, the KingпїЅs flight did not end the war. It continued for another nine years. In the later years of the war, the battle moved to the Baltic. RussiaпїЅs fleet dominated its Swedish counterpart and added to SwedenпїЅs total defeat. On August 30, 1721, Russia and Sweden signed the Treaty of Nystad. Russia gained Livonia, Estonia, Ingermanland, and part of Karelia. The Great Northern War ended SwedenпїЅs position as the dominant power in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea. This position was now taken over by Russia. As for Ukraine, the Great Northern War eliminated all hopes for independence. After the defeat of Sweden, the final absorption of the Kozak state into the mighty Russian empire was simply a matter of time. The Battle of Poltava Because of the harsh winter of 1708/09 and a series of military defeats, the situation of the Swedish army in Ukraine had become precarious.

In late April 1709 Charles XII decided to lay siege to the fortress of Poltava. Although the Swedish army consisted of about 31,000 men at the time, the king decided to engage only 4 cannons and about 6,000 of his soldiers in the siege. The Swedish army cut off all access to the city, including any possible approaches by the Russians across the Vorskla River. In contrast, the Russian Tsar commanded 49,000 men and about 130 cannons. Thus, the Russians had a substantial numerical advantage on the eve of the battle. When Tsar Peter I arrived from the fortress of Azov to join his army on June 5th, he decided to move the army to the western bank of the Vorskla. On June 20th all Russian units crossed the Vorskla near the villages of Petrovka and Semyonovka. The army then moved south and set up a fortified camp near the village of Yakivtsy. In front of the camp was a one-kilometer wide open field of dry, sandy soil, bordered by the Budyschenski Forest.

A hundred meters south of the fortified camp lay the Yakovetski Forest, an area of woodland, streams and gullies. In the area between the two forests the Russians had built 10 redoubts to guard the approach to the camp. Each redoubt consisted of a high parapet with a trench in front of it. The redoubts were manned by 4,000 infantry men (8 battalions) and 16 guns. On the eve of battle, disaster struck the Swedes. Charles XII was wounded during a brief encounter with the Russians while on reconnaissance. This unfortunate incident deprived the Swedes of their charismatic and able leader - more than that, their talisman of victory. Although the King retained nominal command of the army, he had to delegate direct control to Field Marshal Rehnskold . The Swedish plan was simple. The army would assemble during the night south of the Russian redoubts and move through the redoubt line before dawn. The infantry troops under the command of Lewenhaupt would be the first to move forward through the redoubt line, followed by the cavalry. The foot soldiers would then launch an attack on the Russians crammed inside their fortified camp.

The 18 Swedish battalions were divided into four columns, supported by a battery of four regimental guns. The Swedish infantry moved into position soon after midnight. Their starting lines were about a kilometer south of the first Russian redoubt, from which the sound of sawing and hammering could be heard. There they waited. When the cavalry finally arrived after two hours dawn was already breaking. By the time the whole Swedish army was assembled, the late start put the element of surprise at risk. After conferring with his two principal commanders, the King decided to go forward with the attack anyway. The time was about 4.00 a.m. The battle had begun.

Question: The Battle of Poltava in 1709 was a victory by Peter the Great over which state?
Answer: SWEDEN